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There was a time when value-priced PCs meant cheap, weak, and flimsy systems. But not anymore. Today, PCs priced below $600 account for almost 20 percent of all U.S. desktop sales, according to research firm IDC, and for good reason. Even the cheapest computers are powerful enough for day-to-day computing and very basic multimedia tasks.

This is true not only for desktops, but for notebooks as well. Laptops are still more expensive than desktop PCs, but more people are buying them at the lower end of the cost scale. IDC estimates that systems priced below $1,000 drive a good 17 percent of the notebook market. Low-cost portables may not offer the battery life of more expensive modelsand sometimes, they're not quite as thin, as light, or as durablebut they're powerful enough to handle all but the most demanding tasks.

In fact, for value notebooks and desktops alike, the difference in power and performance when compared with higher-end systems is marginal. Keep in mind that these are neither gaming boxes nor high-performing multimedia machines. But if you're not planning on downloading and editing a lot of video or music files, or playing the next installment of Doom, then read on.